damsel in distress

i often wonder why God has always provided for my transportation needs in the form of clunker cars. but then around the time i get to wondering that, he likes to remind me with little things every now and then, why he does so.

this morning started out with an adventure when my car battery died at a stoplight on the freeway offramp near my work.

now, although my car is an adventure that i love experiencing, it doesn't mean i dont have those moments of silent panic and then prayer when my car dies in the middle of an intersection, with traffic behind me.

this morning, my silent - and feminine - prayer to heaven went kinda like this:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! (that was the feminine part) Jesus, i dont know what to do. please have it start again!!!

i tried to start it again, to no avail. my battery was dead. can't have someone jump my car in the middle of the road, that's for sure.

okay, okay... what would dad do if he were here? put your emergency lights on. okay... done. now what? direct the traffic behind you to go around.

i got out of my car and signaled the cars behind me to go around, and got back in my car, gripping the steering wheel as if my desperation alone would turn the car back on.

calm down, hope. take a deep breath... you've dealt with worse than this, before. granted... not in rush hour traffic on an offramp, but still! now, what is the next step? the car wont turn over, and there is no one around to rescue you... except maybe that guy!

i watched as a big burly harley davidson-clad man walked across the crosswalk in front of me. i visually measured up his size and breathed a sigh of relief as i thought surely, he is on his way to help me... i am obviously a damsel in distress, here.

not so much.

icky harley dude just leered at me from across the intersection, as i got out of my car. when i saw the look in his eyes, i got right back in my car. the light went green, and i got an idea.

i put my car in neutral, took a deep breath, and put my shoulder into the driver's side door while steering the car and pushing it with all my might. holy CRAP, lil redhottness is HEAVY!!

you would think by now that harley dude would stop leering and help, but no no, my friends... he just stood there... five feet away from a woman pushing her car through an intersection, and just watched me do it.

i sent up a silent prayer as i saw that the parking lot of the walgreens that i was heading towards had a significant increase in elevation, and there was no way i'd be able to push my car up it. you'd think pushing a smaller car would be easy, but it's not.

i saw a blur of movement to my left, and watched a young man dash across four lanes of traffic towards me. he yelled at me to get in my car and steer, and with what i can only describe as heroic strength, pushed me and my car up the incline and into the walgreens parking lot.

i put my car in park and got out, and the first words out of my adrenaline-crazed hero's mouth, echoed my own thoughts from moments before...

"what the hell was that guy doing, just WATCHING you push your car across the intersection? GOD... I'M SO SORRY!! are you okay?!"

although sufficiently out of breath, i was touched by his unneeded apology on behalf of harley dude. i smiled and assured him i was fine. "thank you so much for rescuing me... i didnt know how i was going to push it up that incline!" i gestured back at the entrance to the parking lot.

he smiled as if he knew just how big that 3 inch rise was, when pushing a car and its driver up it. he put his hands on his hips and quickly looked behind him. an empty truck was parked on the side of the road, half a block away. i realized his concern, as he stuck his hand in his pocket, taking out the keys to his truck. "glad to help... are you good?"

"yeah, totally... i've got it from here. THANK YOU!"

"no problem!" ... he waved in my direction as he darted across the four lanes of traffic back to his abandoned vehicle. i glanced across the intersection, from him jumping in his truck, and driving in the direction of the fading figure of harley dude, walking towards downtown reno.

i like to imagine that he was going to give him a piece of his mind...

so, there's my adventure for the morning.

i met man this morning, and what a man he was!

"If we are strong, our strength will speak for itself. If we are weak, words will be of no help." - John Fitzgerald Kennedy